An Older Sisters Love
by LTPugh
Summary: Ichika picks the black bikini and causes Chifuyu to realize how strongly she loves him. Chifuyu and Ichika pairing eventually.
1. A Black Bikini for a Big Sis

_OOC: This is just a little thing I've had around for awhile. I polished it up an let you guys see it. Let me know what you think. If I get a response I might write more. Heck, I'll probably write more eventually anyway, but it'll be faster if you guys say something. Anyway, hope you enjoy._

_I don't own any of the characters or copyrighted material posted here._

Ichika Orimura was currently facing one of the hardest decisions of his young life.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, he was not as dumb as most people thought. He in fact, wasn't actually dumb at all, testing above average on intelligence tests and making up for any deficiencies by being stubborn to a fault on the things he found important. Most of his deficiencies at being an IS pilot were simply a result of him lacking any preparation. Why study anything about IS's when the most he would ever be able to do to one would be to touch it? He was working on rectifying that situation, but being months and in some cases years behind the girls in prep time meant he had a very hard path in front of him.

Besides underestimating him in regards to general intelligence, the girls around him also consistently underestimated him in regards to how much he noticed them. Granted he wasn't exactly the sharpest stylus in the box, but he wasn't as dull as they seemed to think he was. It was true, he had been relatively clueless in the beginning, but Houki, Cecilia and Rin hadn't exactly been helpful in that respect. Houki had been angry at him too much for Ichika to think she liked him, Cecilia had never completely managed to stop acting like an upper class twit and Rin was as bratty as ever. But sometime between Charlotte declaring that she was staying at the Academy because he was there, while very unsubtly pressing her breasts against him and waking up with a naked Laura in his bed, he had figured out that they ALL liked him. The problem was, being a fifteen year old boy with no dating experience and raging hormones was not conducive to figuring out if he actually liked any of them. It didn't help that they were all extremely attractive in their own ways.

However NONE of the admittedly small amount of experience he had gathered so far prepared him for helping his sister pick out a swimsuit. Now, the exact swimsuit itself wasn't a problem, the problem was that Chifuyu was one of the few people in the world that could make a burlap sack look good. At 24 Chifuyu-nee was tall, athletic without being too muscular, had long dark hair and, as much as he tried not to think about it, a chest that was frankly amazing.

The only reason she wasn't one of the top models in the business, was that she thoroughly despised the fashion world and everything that went with it. Even before she had become an IS pilot, she had gotten several offers from semi-popular magazines. After she had won the first Mondo Gross, the offers had been almost nonstop and from around the globe. The only reason they HAD stopped was because Chifuyu had threatened to take Yukihira and put in places that the fashion reps hadn't appreciated. One had been so persistent that Chifuyu had actually partially summoned her IS before the idiot had taken the hint.

Now Ichika was in a position those reps had only dreamed about, being able to pick out what Chifuyu would wear. She was currently holding up two swimsuits for him to choose from, both bikini's. One was white, with a sport cut that was functional and, for a bikini, covered a lot of skin; Chifuyu would look good in that.

The other swimsuit she was holding was a different proposition altogether. This one was black. That alone put it ahead of the white one, contrasting with her pale skin nicely. It was also much more daringly cut. The top actually had two straps for the shoulder and around the back, giving it a more daring look, while simultaneously allowing it to show off more cleavage. The bottoms were also much different, being cut much smaller, especially in the back where it was basically cut to show as much skin as possible and still barely be decent. There was also some sort of frilly…thing that looked like it was supposed to go around her leg, which was there purely to provide an additional thrill for anyone looking. If Chifuyu put THAT on, Ichika was willing to bet the sun would appear darker and every male within a three mile radius would become distracted, including, as much as he tried VERY hard not to think about, himself.

In short, his decision was very simple; the black one was the clear and obvious winner. However, there was some part of him that was worried that the black one might be too daring, that it would draw too much of the wrong kind of attention to Chifuyu. The other parts of his brain quickly ganged up on that part and beat it up, reminding him that this, was, CHIFUYU! The woman, who had, in no particular order, essentially won the Mondo Gross twice without breaking a sweat, using only a sword, single handedly saved him from kidnappers when he was younger, taken care of him his entire life AND stopped Laura, who was in her IS, using only brute strength and a katana that was nearly as tall as she was. The entire might of the United States Military, including its IS's, MIGHT hold some danger to Chifuyu when she was serious. Random perverts on the beach would probably be dead before they realized they were being attacked.

All of this passed through Ichika's brain in a matter of seconds, but it was still long enough for Chifuyu to say, "Well Ichika, which one would look better on me?"

"The black one," he said honestly.

"Oh," said Chifuyu, her voice taking on a hint of surprise, before continuing on in a teasing tone, "Are you sure your old sister can wear something so daring?"

"Chifuyu, you are the most attractive woman I know," said Ichika honestly, not noticing the slight blush that appeared on her cheeks, "You could wear whatever you felt like and nobody would complain."

"Hmm," said Chifuyu, fighting down the heat rising in her body after Ichika said that, "You're not concerned about some pervert coming after me if I wear it?"

Ichika laughed at that looking down at, but not really seeing, the floor, "As much as I want to protect you Chifuyu, there really isn't a point," he said, a mild tone of sadness coloring his voice, "If there's something you can't deal with then I certainly won't be able too." Sighing, he continued, "That's why I've always done my best to support you in any way I can Chifuyu-nee. My beloved onee-san was always so perfect in my eyes, so beautiful and strong, somebody I never deserved. I felt I could only do little things to help and even as I tried to catch up you were always so far ahead of me." Looking up he gave a small, but still somehow sad smile, "So that's why I'm not worried about you nee-san, you've never needed me, not really. If anything I've been a burden to your entire life."

As Ichika spoke, praising her the entire time, Chifuyu Orimura felt something warm spread within her, something just as hot as before, but now it was softer, fuzzier even. It had been a long time since Ichika had been able to speak this freely with her, their relationship as teacher and student had prevented anything else. But it surprised her how much she had actually missed the terms of endearment that he used.

What also surprised her was how much sadness Ichika seemed to contain when he spoke. It was…surprising to say the least. Ichika had always seemed happy to her, somebody that had no reason to be sad. On the rare occasions she made it home he always greeted her with a smile and never seemed to have a care in the world.

But looking back now, she saw how much effort that would take, to always smile for her and have the house clean. To always get the grades he had, even though he was not a natural student. Even when he had that part time job, none of that had changed, not one iota.

And what had she given him in return? She had taught him sternly from a young age to be polite, to be respectful, and to be able to take care of himself. From the moment he had been able to take care of himself she had been out of the house, earning money for both of them. After saving him from his kidnappers she had spent a year away from home, in Germany, teaching others to pay off her debt. But she had never quite delved into what that might have done to him.

She had always loved her brother, she knew that. But now she wasn't so sure that he knew that. The sadness in his voice, the look he had while saying those things about her, he had no idea that he was the only thing driving her, that he was her one treasure in life, the only thing she would never ever give up. He saw himself as a failure, taught by her to be something that he could never be for her. He didn't see the marvelous young man she saw, the one that she relied on for support in her soul, the one that she was proud of to no end…and the only man in the entire world that held, the only one that would ever hold a piece of her heart.

"Baka," she said softly, leaning forward and placing her forehead against his, "You are the only man on the planet who comes close to deserving me."

"N-Nee-san?" said Ichika uncertainly. He had never seen Chifuyu like this before and it had been a long time since she was this close to him for anything but hitting him on the head. Her proximity had suddenly made him aware of how…right, she smelled and enough of her hair had fallen so that he could tell how soft it was by brushing his cheek.

"You heard me," she said, her voice returning to the strong tone Ichika was used to as she pulled her head back from his, "Now come on, let's pay for our purchases and head back to the train, I'm sure those girls are waiting for you."

"Y-yes, Chifuyu," said Ichika, following after Chifuyu as she headed for the checkout counter.

For her part Chifuyu was glad that Ichika was behind her. She hadn't counted on how she would feel so close to him and the heat it had brought hadn't gone down. Something had changed in that store; something he had said or done had made her realize how much he loved her…and how much she loved him. Now she was more determined than ever to keep him by her side. And something inside her said that the little bikini she bought might be the key to making him stay.


	2. A Day at the Beach with a Black Bikini

_Authors Notes: Let me just say one thing before you all read this, HOLY CRAP! I had absolutely no idea that my little one-shot idea would generate as much hype and get as many views as it did. I was being serious when I said I crapped a lot of it out, the basic premise was written IN NOTEPAD! while I was bored at work one day. The feedback was so good and the views so great, I actually briefly considered not writing another chapter, as I wasn't sure I could produce something as good again. Luckily for you, I decided it was indeed something I should at lest try to expand on. So here it is, Chapter Two for your viewing pleasure._

_I own none of the Characters or copyrighted material depicted here. _

An Older Sisters Love Chapter 2

Chifuyu Orimura sat in the front of one of the buses taking the first year class of the IS academy on their annual trip to the beach. One would be forgiven for thinking that she was putting her attention on supervising her students, she technically was, but the majority of her attention was not on the girls behind her. It was actually in her head, focused on the one young man with them.

Ever since the day in the shop a week ago, she had been unable to stop thinking about Ichika. She hadn't let it affect her duties; there had been absolutely no outside indication of what she was thinking and if anything she had been more focused than ever. But in her free time her thoughts had invariably drifted back to Ichika and what he had said in that store.

Since she had had a week to think it over, she had gone over every expression, every change in his tone and what they might mean. The truth was that she had probably overthought the scene, but in the end she had been able to come to only one conclusion. Ichika honestly believed that he was a failure, that he had actually disappointed her, his entire life…and he truly thought that her life would have been better without him.

Looking back, she had seen through hindsight that she had never given him a reason to think otherwise. She had been absent from his life nearly as much as she had been in it. She had been leaving him alone at home since before he was ten and he had been essentially self-sufficient before eleven. Even when she had been around she had been harsh, making sure that he had the proper attitude, the proper grades, proper everything.

As she had been gone so much, she had made sure to tell him to do the housework. But thinking back she realized he had done it all for years without complaining. She hadn't had to do laundry since he could reach the clothesline. She literally couldn't remember the last time she had cooked anything for herself that was more complicated than a cup of noodles. She honestly didn't know where he kept the cleaning supplies in the house and, despite that, when she came home she could be certain her room could pass a military inspection despite her not having dusted in years.

Ichika did it all, the shopping, cleaning the lawn, fixing anything broken in the house. The list went on and on. She hadn't told him to do all of these things, probably less than half actually, but he did them anyway. Yet he had never complained, never asked her to help and never tried to claim any reward for himself. His room was plain, containing a bed, a small desk, a closet, a very small TV and not much else.

Even when she had a bad day he smiled for her, did his best to cheer her up, despite knowing he was likely to get barked at. Thinking back, her life at home had been paradise and she hadn't noticed. She had come home rarely, but everything was always ready in case she did. What had she given him in return? The most she could remember was saying "Good" in that ridiculously formal voice she used.

Despite that, what many would take as years of slight or neglect, when he spoke of her in that store, his love had shown through clearly. He had honestly called her beautiful and strong, had even said he saw her as perfect. Just thinking about him saying that made her body warm. But despite all that he did for her, he saw it just as small things, almost inconsequential. He felt that he didn't deserve her, but the truth was more that she likely didn't deserve him.

As she had gone soul searching, she had realized that, despite succeeding in much of his life, she had failed him in some manner. Sure, she had always given him crap, but she had always thought that he needed it, that he actually had something else in his life. But looking back Ichika was more concerned with her than he was with himself. He had a pitifully small number of friends, despite having the personality and looks that should have insured him a large group of them, probably including at least one girlfriend by now. Everything he did he did for her, from the grades to getting that part time job, every bit of that had been him trying to be less of a "burden" to her.

Oh sure, she had told him he didn't need to get the job or that he should spend the money on a girl he liked. But that had been in passing, almost an afterthought. She had never actually sat down and asked him what he wanted to do; she had been "too busy" working and bringing in money for the both of them. Even now, he was doing his best _for her_.

He didn't care about the IS or the popularity it brought him. When he could have been living the life of a playboy, he was working to get better at things no other male had ever attempted. When he could have been pursuing any of the girls that liked him, he was instead asking them to work with him on skills so he wouldn't disappoint _her._

When it came down to it, Ichika's life revolved around her, Chifuyu Orimura, his big sister. While other families had issues talking with each other, he couldn't have been more devoted to her if he tried. That was his one goal in life, to make her happy, to make sure he wasn't a _burden_ to her.

What she had somehow never made clear to him, despite feeling it deep in her soul, was how much he actually meant to her. That every second she had to spend with him as his sister, and not as a teacher, was a treasure. That every day she spent away from him, every day she wasn't there for him, yanked at her heart. Somehow she had never made clear how proud of him she was, how much of an amazing young man she saw him to be.

When she compared the scope of that failure to everything else in her life, it all paled. She had rescued him from kidnappers so he could have his life, but he lived one for her. She had won the Mondo Gross, but that didn't matter to her. She had been the White Knight and "Saved" Japan, despite the fact she was almost positive Tabane had the missiles set to detonate before they hit anything anyway. In short, despite doing everything for her brother, he thought he was a worthless burden.

She was going to change that as soon as she could.

But not right now, she thought as the bus got close to its stop, right now she had a job to do.

Standing up she said in her teacher voice, "We're about to reach our destination. Everyone, sit down and be quiet."

At that everyone did indeed sit down and be quiet. They pulled up to the resort two minutes later and all the student's disembarked from the buses before lining up by class.

"This is the Kagetsu resort," she said, raising her voice only slightly so they could all hear, "We're going to be in their care for 3 days, so everyone is to be most respectful and not let the staff's workload increase."

When she finished, the entire group responded, "Thanks for taking care of us!"

The resort manager, a middle aged lady dressed in a traditional but plain kimono, bowed to the assembled group and gestured towards the resort, saying, "Please move this way."

Turning to Chifuyu she said, "The freshmen this year seem rather energetic."

"That they are," replied Chifuyu, glancing over the group to make sure there was no trouble.

"Oh my," said the manager, turning to look at Ichika as he walked close, "Is that the rumored male student?"

"Yes," Chifuyu answered, "Since there's a male student this year you'll have to separate the baths, I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

Noticing that they were talking about him Ichika changed direction slightly and walked in front of them.

"No no no, that's not the case," said the manager, "He's a fine boy. Feel reliable."

Chifuyu bit back the scathing remark that had popped into her head and instead said, "He's alright."

Ichika bowed politely and introduced himself, "My name's Ichika Orimura, nice to meet you."

The manager gave a small chuckle and bowed in return, saying, "How polite, I'm Keiko Kiyosu."

Observing Ichika, Chifuyu was able to tell that he was nervous, but nobody but her would have been able to notice, which meant he had been working on his greetings.

"This is my younger brother," said Chifuyu, her tone softening just slightly, "I'm sure he won't cause any trouble for you."

"Oh my," said the manager, "you seem to be really confident in your brother Miss Orimura."

Chifuyu didn't say anything to that, she just let her face settle into something that might have contained a whisper of pride.

To Ichika, the entire short incident was rather shocking. The manager had caught his eye and had been talking to Chifuyu, so he had of course moved over to greet her. That part wasn't so shocking, the shocking part was Chifuyu.

He was certain that no one else on the planet would have noticed, but Chifuyu had seemed…almost proud of him. Normally, he would have expected some comment on how useless he was or how she had to deal with all the trouble he caused. Instead he had gotten an alright and the closest thing he could remember to praise. Then her face at the end; that had been something he was sure he had never seen before.

From Chifuyu, that meant a lot. Ichika couldn't even remember the last time he had actually been praised by her, so the entire incident sent the warm feeling of a job well done through him.

A small smile settled on his face as Chifuyu turned to the assembled girls and said, "Everyone please head towards your rooms. There's a changing room in the annex for the students who want to go to the beach. If you can't find it ask the staff."

As Chifuyu went off to direct some students, Ichika followed the rest of the girls into the resort. As he entered the building and the girls headed off towards their respective rooms, Ichika realized that he didn't know where he was sleeping.

"A-Ahe-Ahem-Orimu~" came from behind Ichika and he turned to see "Scantily Dressed-san" as he remembered her, coming slowly towards him.

"Where's Orimura's room~?" she asked in her sing-song voice, "The room plan never indicated it. I want to play with you, so hurry up and tell me~"

Ichika noticed all the girls in the area immediately tilt their heads as the sleepy girl asked that question.

"I don't know," he said honestly, before switching to a joking tone, "Maybe they want me to sleep in the hall?"

The girl in front of him giggled a bit before saying something silly about the floor being a nice place to sleep. Ichika didn't really notice because it was then that Chifuy…no Miss Orimura, called to him.

"Orimura," she said in her teacher voice, "I have your room assignment, follow me."

"Yes Miss Orimura," Ichika said and followed after his big sister.

As Ichika followed his sister he took time to notice the resort around him. It was spacious, both in terms of sheer capacity and the room it gave its occupants. It also managed to blend soothing décor into all of its facilities. It was also cool inside, something anybody could appreciate.

"Here it is," said Chifuyu as she lead Ichika to his destination, a western style door which had a sign labeled "Staff Room".

"Huh?" said Ichika, before turning quizzically to Chifuyu, "Am I staying in a staff room?"

Chifuyu sighed before speaking, "Originally you were supposed to get a room by yourself, but the teachers thought that if we did that there would be girls who would sneak into your room after lights out. So you'll be rooming here, with me, so they don't bother you."

"Oh," said Ichika, silently thanking all the teachers in his head. "That's good," he said with a smile.

Chifuyu felt her heart skip just a beat when Ichika smiled at her, "How does he do that?" she thought in her head, before saying out loud, "Let me make this clear, I'm still a teacher out here."

"Yes ma'am," said Ichika, bowing slightly in acknowledgement. But he did notice the slight pause at the end of her sentence that seemed to say, but…

Chifuyu turned the knob and opened the door, entering the room and Ichika followed behind her, shutting the door when he was through.

Glancing about he saw a rather spacious room. Despite the western door, the room was done in a mix of traditional and modern Japanese. The walls were decorated and there were small traditional items around the room and on the furniture. But the bed, singular, Ichika noted, was Western style, as was the bathroom.

Glancing in the bathroom he noticed that instead of a shower, they had put in a rather large tub. It could hold one person with room to stretch or probably two if they didn't mind getting close. The bed was similar, being of queen size and having what looked to be a very comfortable mattress.

Chifuyu had set her bag down and turned to look at Ichika as he examined the room. He had always been a healthy child, she had made sure of that, but lately she had noticed that he had really started to fill out, to become a man. He still had a way to go, but between his training and natural looks, he had a face and figure that many men could only dream of.

"He's your brother!" one part of her mind yelled at her, but the other parts steadfastly ignored that one and continued to inform her of how nice Ichika looked. The rest of her body did as well, her temperature seemed to rise just slightly and something…twisty seemed to rise in her stomach. She fought both of them down as he turned to her.

"Unfortunately," she said in her normal voice, "the onsen here is continuous, so you won't be able to take a bath there. However as you noticed there is a rather nice one in the room so make sure you bathe in here."

"Yes Miss Orimura," Ichika said, acknowledging what she said.

"Like I said before," Chifuyu continued, her voice becoming slightly softer, "Outside we're teacher and student. But in here…" she paused there for a second, marshaling her thoughts and fighting down the strange heat that had again risen insider her. "In here we can be siblings, family," she finished in a tone that was almost nervous.

Ichika paused, looking at his sister. In all his life he had never seen Chifuyu act like this, be even a little nervous. Again, her tells had all been small, just slight changes in pitch and facial movements which nobody but him likely would have noticed, but they were definitely there. In anybody else he would have dismissed it or not even noticed, but for Chifuyu it was the equivalent of lowering her head while blushing and rubbing her hands together.

Not really knowing how to respond, he just said what came to mind first, "I'd like that…Nee-san."

When Ichika said that, Chifuyu's heart seemed to stop beating for at least three seconds. She had been worried that he would refuse or that he would still be stiff. But that smile and the way he said Nee-san banished all her doubts and gave her tingles up her spine.

"Me too," she said, her voice soft and a small but genuine smile settling onto her face.

Ichika was about to say something else when there was a knock on the door, followed by Miss Yamada's voice saying, "Miss Orimura, can I have a minute of your time?"

"Sure," said Chifuyu, immediately dropping back into teacher mode, "Please come in Miss Yamada."

The door opened and Miss Yamada stepped inside the room, looking at some documents. Looking up she saw Ichika and jumped, "Ah, Orimura!" she almost screamed in surprise, startling both Ichika and Chifuyu. "S-sorry," she said hastily, "I forgot that you were sleeping in the same room as Miss Orimura."

"Miss Yamada it was your idea that he sleep here," said Chifuyu sharply.

"Well, yes, sorry," said the younger teacher nervously. Handing the stack of papers to Chifuyu she said, "I-I just need you to look these over and sign them and that should be all for today," said Yamada.

"Very well," said Chifuyu, slight displeasure in her tone, "I'll get to work on them right away."

Nodding her thanks, Yamada immediately left the room, wanting to get away from the aggravated Chifuyu.

Sighing, Chifuyu set the papers down on the room's desk and pulled out the chair.

"Ichika," she said, her voice still mostly in teacher mode, "Since you don't need to unpack, you should change and go down to the beach with the others."

"What about you Nee-san?" Ichika asked, concern obvious in his voice.

Chifuyu paused there, duty temporarily forgotten in the face of Ichika's concern. Clearing her throat she said, "Don't worry about me, this won't take that long. Besides," she paused, another small, brief smile appearing on her face, "I need to show off that swimsuit you chose for me to all your friends."

Between Chifuyu's smile and the thought of her "showing off" in a bikini, it was time for Ichika's heart to flutter.

"O-ok," said Ichika, red appearing on his face, "See you in a little bit then Chifuyu-nee."

Grabbing what he needed for the beach, Ichika almost scurried out of the room.

Looking at the door which Ichika had just left through and then down to the paperwork she had to do, Chifuyu said to herself, "Alright Chifuyu, get this done and you can spend so time with your brother on the beach."

Picking up the first of the papers she started to read.

On his way to the changing room Ichika ran into Houki outside, crouching by a set of mechanical bunny ears and a sign that said "Please pull". Ichika knew of only one person who wore ears like that.

"Houki is that…" Ichika started to ask.

"I don't know; don't ask me," said Houki, "I'm sure it has nothing to do with me."

That confirmed it. It was definitely Tabane's work.

"You know if we don't pull it it's only going to be worse later," said Ichika.

"I don't care," said Houki, standing from her kneeling position and moving away, "I'm not involved; you can pull them if you want."

Sighing Ichika set his things down on the covered path and crouched down in front of the ears. Reaching out he grabbed them both firmly and pulled, expecting resistance. Instead he fell on his butt as they came out rather easily.

As he rolled back, he encountered Cecilia, who gave him a very peculiar look.

"What in the world are you doing Ichika?" she asked as he looked at him from above and to him, apparently backwards.

Ichika didn't know what to say and simply sat up and showed Cecilia the bunny ears in his hands, "I pulled them" he said, gesturing to the sign.

Cecilia's mouth moved to form a question, but whatever she was going to say was swallowed up by the sound of something moving fast through the air. Looking up, Ichika caught sight of something headed toward him just in time to duck his head. Then the earth shook and a cloud of dust was thrown up as the object struck.

As the shaking stopped and the dust settled, Ichika looked up to see what appeared to be a giant carrot sticking out of the ground. Before he could do anything the carrot split down the middle, revealing its sole occupant. Said occupant was wearing a tight fitting white and blue dress straight out of Alice in Wonderland.

"Ahahahaha," she said as she grabbed the rabbit ears from Ichika and putting them on her head, "Tricked you didn't I Ii-kun."

"Ahaha," said Ichika unconvincingly, "Yeah you got me Tabane. Long time no see."

"Yup yup," she said in her high pitched sing song voice, "Long time not to see one of my three favorite people!" Pausing just a second she glanced around before saying, "Hey Ii-kun, where's Houki-chan? I thought she'd be with you!"

"Nope," said Ichika, "I don't know where with she is." Technically that was true; he had only a general idea of where Houki went after she had left.

"Mmm…that's ok," said Tabane as she reached into her dress and pulling out another, smaller, set of bunny ears, "I'll just use my patented Houki-chan detector to find her!" Rushing off as the ears pointed in the direction Houki had left in Tabane shouted behind her, "Bye Ii-kun! See you later!"

Ichika waved goodbye as Tabane literally left in a cloud of dust, leaving Cecilia and him behind, dumbfounded.

"Ichika," said Cecilia confusedly, "Who was that strange person?"

"That," Ichika said in a resigned tone, "was Tabane Shinonono, Houki's big sister."

If Ichika could have taken a picture of Cecilia's face he would have, it was the most shocked looking thing he had ever seen. Her mouth dropped open and formed a perfect O shape and her eyes opened as wide as they could go.

"What?!" she screamed, "That's the world renowned genius who invented the IS? Who can't be found by any of the world's governments?"

"Yes that's her," said Ichika, sighing afterwards.

Turning to his pile of things, Ichika noticed a small box with a note on it. The note read "Ii-kun, I know I missed some birthdays so I found this in my shop and decided to give it to you!" Opening the box Ichika discovered a necklace. It had a fine chain made from silver metal and had a small, simple diamond pendant at the end.

"Geez Tabane," Ichika said, holding up the necklace, "You never did know what to give anyone for presents."

"Ichika where did you get that!" exclaimed Cecilia, seeing him holding up the necklace.

"Tabane left it on my stuff," said Ichika, not quite sure why she was so excited, "She said she had it lying around in her shop and decided to give it to me for my birthday."

"She had it lying around in her shop!" exclaimed Cecilia, "That's a Sotheby's Fine Platinum Necklace with a Quarter Carat Colorless Diamond Pendant!"

Ichika looked at Cecilia as she yelled at him over the necklace, not quite understanding why she was so upset, "I take it that's good?" he asked quizzically.

"Good!" exclaimed Cecilia, "Sotheby's makes some of the best jewelry in the world! There are probably less of those necklaces in the world then there are IS's!"

"Oh," said Ichika, nonplussed, "That's nice."

"Ooohhh! Ichika!" exclaimed Cecilia, "You are so infuriating!" With that she stormed of in a huff.

"What did I do now?" said Ichika, sighing and putting the necklace back in its box.

Bundling it with his things Ichika went ahead and changed in the room provided just for him. Leaving behind his things, he left with only a towel and some sunblock.

As he left the changing room he ran into scantily dressed-san and her friends who demanded that he play volleyball with them later. Acquiescing, he walked out to the beach and laid out his towel. Putting on his sunblock the best he could, Ichika realized he couldn't get his back and he looked around for somebody he recognized to put in on for him.

Looking to his right he saw Charlotte and…what appeared to be a towel mummy.

"Hey Charl!" Ichika hollered, getting her attention.

"Oh Ichika!" she said, pulling the towel mummy after her.

"Can you put sunscreen on my back?" Ichika asked Charl, gesturing towards his back.

"O-ok," said Charl nervously, "I will do it."

"Thanks Charl," Ichika said, handing her the lotion.

As Charl started rubbing the lotion on his back Ichika asked, "Who's the towel mummy by the way?"

"Oh," said Charl, pausing for just a second before continuing, "That's Laura, she's feeling a bit shy." Turning to Laura she said, "Laura, why don't you show Ichika your swim suit?"

"I-I," said Laura nervously, "I need some mental preparation."

"Laura" said Charl, "If you don't come out before I'm done rubbing the lotion onto Ichika, I'll take him and we'll go play by ourselves!"

"Wha-What!" said Laura.

"There," said Charl, finishing rubbing the lotion onto Ichika and grabbing his hand, "All done! Let's go Ichika."

"Wait!" exclaimed Laura, "I'll do it!"

There was fiddling somewhere in the towel mummy and suddenly all of the pieces dropped from Laura. Revealed for all to see Laura was wearing a small black bathing suit, similar to Chifuyu's but with more laces. Besides the swimsuit Laura had also put her hair up into ponytails similar to Rins'. Overall it changed her from mildly overbearing to extremely cute.

"You look cute Laura," said Ichika seriously.

Laura made some sort of squeak inside her throat and turned bright red before saying, "You don't have to be nice…"

"I'm being sincere Laura," said Ichika, "Right Charl?"

"Yes," said Charl nodding, "I told her that but she didn't believe me, even though I helped her with her hair."

"Ah I wondered where she got those," pausing to look at Charl Ichika said, "You look good too Charl."

Charlotte blushed as well when Ichika said that, turning slightly red and fiddling with her hair, "Uhm," she said after a second, "What do you want to do Ichika?"

"I don't know," said Ichika, "I was thinking about going swimming but…"

Ichika was interrupted by scantily dressed-san and her two friends as they came up, "Orimura!" they hollered, "Let's go play volleyball!"

Turning to Charl Ichika asked, "What do you think Charl? Are you up for a little three on three volleyball?"

"Sound like fun!" she said, nodding in agreement.

Dragging Laura along after them the three of them followed the other girls over to the volleyball court they had set up.

"Alright!" said one of the girls Ichika didn't really know, "Standard rules, only three hits and we'll play to ten!"

After everyone nodded the girl, Kushinada-san Ichika thought, said, "Alright, here we go!"

Jumping, she served the ball well hitting it over towards Charl, who yelled, "I got it!" But before she could get it she ran into and knocked over Laura, who was just standing there with a glazed look on her face.

"Laura, are you ok?" asked Ichika, pulling her up by her hand.

"Yeah, what's wrong Laura," said Charl, rubbing her shoulder where she had run into Laura.

"C-c-cute, he said…" mumbled Laura almost incomprehensibly, before realizing that Ichika was staring at her. When she did she turned bright red and ran off back towards the resort, throwing up sand behind her as she did.

"Ugh…," sighed Charl, before glancing up at Ichika and saying "I should probably go check on her since I'm her roommate…"

"It's ok Charl," said Ichika, "We'll just find another person to play with us."

"How about me?" said a familiar voice from behind Ichika.

Turning around Ichika opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out because his jaw had suddenly dropped to the vicinity of Earths outer core. Standing there, sun shining on her fair skin, was his big sister, Chifuyu Orimura.

All around Ichika were over a hundred girls near his age, 15 or 16, wearing a variety of bathing suits that fit onto a variety of body types. All of them were attractive, many of them could easily be called quite pretty and a few could honestly be called beautiful. None of them held so much as a matchstick to Chifuyu.

To call her pretty had about as much accuracy as saying the Milky Way was "quite large", technically correct, but completely missing the true scale of what you were talking about. Ichika didn't even think beautiful was right. The only words he could form that came close were "Drop dead gorgeous".

Standing there in her bare feet, Chifuyu was 180 cm or almost 5'11" tall, with very long, very shapely legs to match. Traveling up, her hip line and what was visible of her butt appeared to have been sculpted by Michelangelo himself. Her stomach was firm, but not muscular, with not an ounce of extra fat visible anywhere on her body. Her chest…her chest was full and firm, with no evidence of sag.

Even her neck managed to be attractive, slender as it was. Her face wasn't as conventionally attractive as the rest of her, being a little too strong for some people. But to Ichika it might as well have been perfection itself, he had long ago memorized every line of his sister's beautiful face. Rounding everything off were her lovely dark brown eyes and her gorgeous black hair that fell straight past her hips.

Since he hadn't seen his sister in less than a long skirt and a blouse for years, the sight of Chifuyu in the black bikini he had picked nearly stopped Ichika's poor heart.

For her part, Chifuyu was also surprised by how much Ichika had grown. He was currently only a couple of inches shorter than her, close enough that only a very slight inclination would be enough for either of them to look the other in the eye. He had also filled out much more than she had realized, especially in his shoulders which somehow appeared broader without anything on them. Even his face, while still boyish, had started to become manlier, losing some of its previous baby fat.

With her sharp eye she could also see the promise of growth he still held. Ichika was going to get taller, reaching at least her height, likely a little more. His chest also still had some filling out to do, but she doubted he would ever become too muscular. His face might change some as well, but he was never going to entirely lose that boyish charm it contained. In short Ichika had turned into a fine young man and promised to become an even finer adult, one that any woman would want. This, if the flutter in her heart was any indication, included Chifuyu herself.

The moment of revelation for the both of them only lasted a few second before it was interrupted by outside factors. Cries from the girls all around intruded as they all made comments on how sexy Miss Orimura looked. For Ichika's part he really didn't notice them, but he did hear Charl say, "Ichika you perv, you're drooling."

Quickly shaking himself Ichika said, not very convincingly, "No I'm not! What are you saying Charl?"

"Never mind," muttered Charl darkly, "I'm going to go look for Laura." With that she also headed towards the resort, muttering under her breath about "Ichika's type" and "Bigger Rivals".

"So," said Chifuyu's voice, causing Ichika to turn back to her, "What about it Orimura? Care to play some volleyball with your teacher?"

"That would be nice Miss Orimura," said Ichika, a slight stammer in his voice the only thing giving away how nervous he still was at the sight of his sister.

"Is that ok with you girls?" Chifuyu asked, turning towards the three girls on the other side.

"That's fine", said Kushinada-san, the other two girls nodding in agreement.

"Alright then," said Chifuyu, taking up a volleyball stance next to Ichika, "Let's go then."

To Ichika, the following game was mostly a blur. As much as he tried to focus on the game, he was constantly distracted by Chifuyu. Each time she moved her body, it stretched in new and interesting ways. It was worst when she jumped; everything moved and stretched, especially her chest, which Ichika simply couldn't bring himself to ignore.

In the end, the Orimuras ended up winning 10-9. The close win was made possible by two things. The first was Ichika's almost complete distraction by his sister. The other was Chifuyu holding back as she played. Otherwise it would have been a complete blowout in favor of the two siblings.

After the game was over both Ichika and Chifuyu were breathing steadily, if not heavily and had a mild sheen of sweat from the sun. For Ichika, this provided a pleasant distraction as Chifuyu reached her arms above her head and stretched, taking a deep breath in the process. Realizing he was staring Ichika looked away, trying to find something he found even half as interesting as Chifuyu.

For her part, Chifuyu knew she was teasing the poor boy. Part of the reason she had held back during the game was because she had enjoyed Ichika watching her. Even now, as she stretched, she knew that most of the reason she was doing so was to see what Ichika would do. As he looked away, she decided that she wanted some time alone with him, to talk and to see how he would react with less people around.

"Orimura," she said, her outward voice not showing a hint of her inward feelings, "you're sweaty. Come with me, we need to work on your stamina."

"Yes Miss Orimura," said Ichika, his eyes following her swaying hips as she led him towards an inner-tube stand.

Several minutes later Ichika was swimming towards a nearby island as he pulled Chifuyu on the tube she had grabbed. They were about halfway to the island, past the breakers near the beach, when Chifuyu said, "This is good."

Ichika stopped swimming and stuck his and out to hold the tube, catching his breath from swimming. Facing Chifuyu he said, "I thought we were training Miss Orimura?"

"It's ok to talk normally out here Ichika," said Chifuyu, her tone going out of teacher mode as she put her hands under her chin, "And we're not actually training, I just wanted to talk with you for a little bit."

"Ok," said Ichika, confused about what she might want to say, "About what? I mean, don't you know everything about school and my training already? Did I mess up something?"

"No," Chifuyu said, sighing inwardly at Ichika's comments, "You didn't mess anything up." Rolling over onto her back she continued while looking at her own legs, "Actually," she said in a tone that Ichika noted seemed…shy, "I've been meaning to talk to you about that. I…" She paused there, to gather her courage while Ichika wondered what was wrong with her.

"Nee-san?" he said worriedly, honestly not sure what was going on.

When Ichika said Nee-san, in that tone, a shiver went down Chifuyu's spine. Rolling back over she put her fingers over his mouth and said, "Don't talk please, not right now," in a tone that was soft, almost…pleading.

Ichika, even more confused and worried than before, looked into Chifuyu's eyes and saw something he had seen only once before, worry. So he simply nodded as he floated next to her on the tube.

When Ichika nodded, Chifuyu felt her heart flutter, then calm a little. Removing her fingers, she rolled back over so she didn't have to look at him. She could do this, just not while looking at Ichika's worried face.

"Ichika," she said, her voice soft, almost contemplative, "I…I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, about you…about…us." She paused there, marshaling her thoughts as her heartbeat picked up. "I realize that I haven't always been there for you and that when I was, I was often hard on you, even when you didn't really deserve it. And I apologize for that."

Continuing in a similar tone she said, "I also want you to know that, despite all the crap I've given you, that you were never and never will be a burden to me. Everything that I've ever done for you was something that I enjoyed doing. Even when I wasn't, you were what let me get through, the one thing I could always count on to be there for me."

She paused there, her heart beat going wild, before continuing, this time her voice nervous, "I just…I just wanted you to know that I'm thankful for everything you have done. All of your school work, the house, taking care of me when I came home, all of it." Steeling herself, she rolled over onto her stomach again and looked Ichika in the eye. "You've turned into a fine young man Ichika," she said, affection noticeable in her voice, "Someone that any girl would be lucky to have and I want you to know that. Also," she paused, looking down into the water, before looking back up into Ichika's eye's, "I…I want you to know that I'm proud of you. Also..." Her courage failing her, she looked down into the water again, before saying, very softly, "I'm not sure I've told you this before, but, I love you. I love you very very much." With that she looked up to Ichika, to see his reaction.

Ichika was stunned, Chifuyu never, ever acted like this. It was so far out of his experience that he almost missed what she said, but only almost. Chifuyu had said that he wasn't a burden, that she was proud of him…that she loved him. Deep inside Ichika, he had always known that Chifuyu loved him. But it was different to hear her say that, to hear her say that she counted on him, that he wasn't a burden. It was like a dream, but he knew it was real, because he had never seen Chifuyu so open, so honest. It was so much that he couldn't contain himself.

Chifuyu was completely surprised when Ichika attempted to jump out of the water and embrace her. It didn't work. In fact he was so exuberant that he somehow managed to completely flip the tube and her. Surfacing, she took a deep breath and managed to get most of her hair out of her face before Ichika suddenly grabbed her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Nee-san, Nee-san," he said repeatedly, his voice somewhere between complete joy and sobbing as he buried his face in her neck.

Chifuyu was shocked by Ichika's reaction, her heart going crazy as he grabbed her. But not so shocked that she didn't react to Ichika. Just as he did, she wrapped her arms her arms around him and pulled him close, laying her head on his as he almost sobbed into her shoulder.

They stayed like that for a time, just two people who loved each other, bobbing in the summer sea. Neither of them knew how long they stayed like that, but neither of them cared either, as they were totally focused on the other. But after a time, it ended, just like all high emotion events do. Ichika slowly stopped sobbing, his rush of emotion over, but his sister still holding him tight.

After he completely stopped sobbing he pulled away, leaving only his hands on her shoulders. Chifuyu only let go because she had too. It had felt right to hold Ichika, felt right to have him hold her as well. She wanted more of that, but she knew now was not the time, it was time for more talking, more emotions.

"Are you ok?" she asked gently, looking into his eyes.

"Ok?!" said Ichika, a smile on his face, "I'm great, ecstatic! I don' think I've ever felt this good before!"

Chifuyu smiled, though it was a little sad and said in a small voice, "I'm glad, I was so worried…"

"Worried about what Chifuyu-nee?" asked Ichika, again on the lookout for his sister's mood swings.

"I was worried…worried you might hate me after I said that," she said her voice cracking and head dropping a little, "That if I said how I really felt that you would return the same…and that you would actually hate me. Despise me for leaving you behind and say you never wanted to see me again."

"Baka Nee-san," Ichika said teasingly, "How could I hate you? I could no more hate my family than I could the two women I love."

"Wha…" Chifuyu managed to choke out, her face turning to panic and looking up while her heart stopped, only to see Ichika grinning at her.

"Yeah," Ichika said, pulling her back close to him with the grin still on his face, "I love two women, Orimura sensei and Chifuyu nee-san. Orimura sensei isn't very nice sometimes and I don't always like her, but I mostly understand why she is like she is. Chifuyu nee-san is a lot more fun, she'll tease me and I can tease her back, we even play volleyball sometimes. But she doesn't come around very much, so I have to treasure every moment."

"Baka," Chifuyu muttered under her breath, this time with her head on his shoulder, while punching Ichika lightly in the chest, "You almost gave me a heart attack." Pausing, she said in a low tone, "I'm not sure what I would do if I ever lost you to someone else."

"I'm not sure what I would ever do if I lost you to someone either," said Ichika.

"Well at least I don't go around with clusters of men following me everywhere I go," said Chifuyu, a hint of jealousy creeping into her voice.

Ichika laughed at that, pushing her away to look in her eyes, "Nee-san," he said, his voice light, "The only reason that is, is because you work at a girl's school. If you worked anywhere else I'm sure they would be all over you, until you scared them away at least."

Chifuyu didn't have anything to say to that, merely looking down while her cheeks turned red, "It's not my fault that none of them can match up to my standards," she said, her voice embarrassed now.

"Oh really?" said Ichika teasingly, "And is there any man on the planet who meets your standards?"

"Just one," said Chifuyu, her voice soft against the waves, her face turning red and softening, her eyes not looking at Ichika, but down and away.

"Nee-san…" said Ichika softly, looking at her gently as she still refused to look at him. When she still wouldn't look at him he pulled her close and gently kissed her forehead, before letting her head slide over his shoulder again, saying, "I will always be there for you, no matter what. Whatever you need me for, I am always at your call. You are the only woman in the world who I will always love, from the bottom of my heart."

Between the kiss which still warmed her forehead, the words Ichika spoke and the forgotten feeling of being held by someone she loved and who truly loved her back, it was Chifuyu's turn to lose it. She didn't sob like Ichika had; she simply lowered her head fully onto his shoulder and let the tears run down her face, letting built up emotions out, as he held her like she had him.

Ichika held Chifuyu tight as she cried, nothing giving away what she was doing except for some small convulsions in her body and some drips on his shoulder. She still had her pride, she wouldn't sob. But for Ichika it was enough, his sister had, for the first time ever, truly opened up to him. So he held her tight, not saying anything, as the woman some had dubbed "The Robot" cried onto his shoulder.

After another time period neither of them measured, Chifuyu stopped crying and shaking.

"Baka Ichika," she said her voice a little raw, "You better take responsibility for this."

"Always," he said his voice gentle and loving.

"Baka," was all she said, shaking her head slightly side to side.

Taking a chance to look around, Ichika realized that they had drifted and were now closer to the beach, while the inner-tube had drifted completely out of sight. Looking at the beach he saw that there were less people on it and there was a stream of girls headed towards the resort.

"Nee-san," he said gently, "I think we need to go back or people will start to worry about us."

Looking up from Ichika's shoulder, Chifuyu also saw the beach and the people leaving. "Yeah," she said, reluctantly disengaging from Ichika, "It would be bad if we were late to dinner."

"Especially for Orimura Sensei, the great time keeper," said Ichika with a laugh in his voice.

"I'll Orimura Sensei you," said Chifuyu with fake anger in her voice as she splashed him. Turning to Ichika, she said, "How about this, last one to the beach gives the other a massage in the room?"

"Sound good to me," he said happily.

"Alright," she said, facing towards the beach in preparation, "Ready, set…" It was then that Ichika leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek, stunning her. That was all Ichika needed as he sped away, laughing and kicking like a madman. Chifuyu recovered quickly, but the lead Ichika built up before she started moving proved enough for him to edge her out.

Lying on the beach, both of them breathed heavily from their all-out sprint. Glancing over, Ichika became very distracted as his sister laid there, wet body shining in the sun as she breathed heavily in and out.

Turning over to face him, she said, "You *breath* are a horrible little brother *breath* I can't believe *breath* I just said all those nice things about you."

Ichika laughed, rolling over and standing up. "Fine," he said, offering Chifuyu a hand to get up, which she took, "As proof of me being a good little brother, I'll massage you since I cheated."

"Humph," said Chifuyu as she stood, "That's the least I would expect."

Ichika just grinned and glanced around; making sure nobody was close, before leaning in to whisper in her ear, "Don't let me forget," he said slyly, his breath tickling her ear, "I have something to give you later as well." Kissing her on the cheek again, Ichika flashed Chifuyu another grin before running off towards the resort.

Chifuyu simply stood there, chills still running through her body from the way Ichika had whispered to her. Touching herself on where he had kissed her, she said to herself, "If he ever decided to use that voice on the girls, he could rule the world in a week." Shaking herself, Chifuyu headed back towards the resort at a statelier pace than Ichika. But on her face was something that held more than a passing semblance to a real smile.

_Ending Notes: There it is, Chapter Two. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please review, I feel that I got that characterizations right, but I'd love your opinions and reviews make me writer faster! As you can tell, I'm trying to make this at least a little realistic, Chifuyu and Ichika are not just going to suddenly decide to bang each other. This is going to be a long, slow burn and I'm not even sure it'll end up romantic yet, though it probably will. Sorry if that annoys you, (Not really though! :p). Anyway, again please please review as I'm trying to improve my writing style. I promise more updates, though I can't guarantee when as I have my other story, Infinite Strike Witches (Which you should all check out, it'll have romance eventually I swear! :p) and another as of yet unnamed Full Metal Panic Fic that's floating around in my head, to write. But you will all get more lovely Chifuyu and Ichika I swear! So read, review, have fun and see you next time!_

_(P.S.: Internet points go to anyone who recognizes which scene I stole from a certain VN! :D)_


	3. A Black Bikini in the Bedroom

_AN: Hello all, here's the next chapter you've all been waiting for._

An Older Sisters Love Chapter 3

Ichika Orimura was currently seated in the seiza position near the end of a long row of girls eating dinner. Despite his hurrying, he had been one of the last student's to make it to the dining room and was therefore seated next to all five of "The Girls" as he had come to think of them. They had all been waiting for him to appear and all of them had ambushed him at exactly the same time, demanding that he sit next to them. In the end, Ichika had been forced to sit with all five of them around him in a U shape. Laura and Charl had managed to claim the seats to the left and right of him respectively, while Houki, Rin and Cecilia sat across from him.

Despite the dining room being full of chatty girls, the aura surrounding the six of them was sour. Ichika knew, not thought, _knew_, that they were all mad at him. _Why_ they were mad at him he wasn't completely sure, but he had enough experience by now to know they only got this mad at him. He was also experienced enough to know saying anything was likely to set them off, so he didn't. The girls seemed not to want to break the silence either, so Ichika simply enjoyed his Sashimi and amused himself with the thought of Chifuyu's face when he gave her the necklace.

Something about his happiness must have shown on his face, as it was then that something inside Rin snapped and she was the first to break the silence.

"So, Ichika," said the twin-tail, her voice brittle, "You look happy."

"Yeah Ichika," added Cecilia, her voice in a similar icy tone, "Did you get a gift from another random floozy?"

"No," said Charl darkly, "He's probably imagining his sister in her bathing suit."

Laura made a "humph" sound before saying, "Ichika, you are my wife and as such should not be looking at any other woman than me."

Houki didn't say anything, but the look on her face was one of anger and disapproval.

Since they were all mad at him, Ichika decided that discretion was the better part of valor and decided not to respond. This was however, what most people called a "No Win Situation" and his silence only managed to incense Rin and Cecilia further.

"Why didn't you come visit me on the beach Ichika?" asked Rin, her voice sounding like it was about to snap.

"Why didn't you come see me either Ichika?" demanded Cecilia, her voice angry, "Playing with another girl?"

Ichika could never quite point out why, but something about the whole situation, the girls' irrational anger, their accusations, and their tone, finally made him lose his patience with the group. Lowering his chopsticks, he calmly took his cup and took a sip before setting it down and replying in a too calm voice, "So what if I was?"

Normally this wouldn't have set either Rin or Cecilia off, but the atmosphere and Ichika's tone aggravated them just enough that they snapped. Both of them let out inarticulate growls and jumped at Ichika, partially summoned IS parts swinging around to engage him. Neither of them got close.

Ichika had known this was likely to happen and had partially summoned Byaku-Shiki before they had even started moving. His left hand snapped out and intercepted Rin's armored fist cold, while his right hand reached out and grabbed Cecilia's rifle before it got anywhere near him.

Used to Ichika either running away or acting like their punching bag, neither Rin nor Cecilia had expected resistance and were therefore too stunned to attempt a second attack. Ichika shocked the whole room with what he did next.

"Look you two!" he yelled directly into the faces of the unfortunate pair, his own face twisted in anger, "I am not your personal property, nor do I moonlight as a damn punching bag!" Turning to look at the stunned faces of Laura, Houki and Charl, he continued in an angry tone, "That goes for you three as well!"

Releasing the two girls, Ichika dismissed his IS and sat back down, anger still clear on his face.

Both Cecilia and Rin started to stammer out an apology, but Ichika didn't let them. "Shut up," he said, anger still in his voice, "just shut up and let me talk."

Taking a deep breath, Ichika continued in the same tone, "Look, we're all friends, but this stops now." The last three words were punctuated for emphasis.

"I am not a prize," he said, "or something to be fought over. I am a person and you will treat me as such." Pausing, Ichika realized that his voice had been disguising the fact that the whole room was silent. Turning his head he saw every last girl in the room staring at him.

In any other situation Ichika would have been so embarrassed that he would have shut up and likely wouldn't have shown himself for weeks. But whatever high he was running on made Ichika continue speaking. "That goes for all of you as well," he said, his voice still strong but not as angry, "I might be the only guy in the school, but that does not give you the right to treat me like a zoo animal."

"Now," he said, his voice going almost eerily polite, "that said, I will consider everything since the start of the semester void, starting now. The only exclusions are names, so all of you please consider me a newly arrived transfer student."

Standing upright, Ichika bowed to the room, "My name is Ichika Orimura," he said, his tone still eerily polite, "I will be your classmate from tomorrow onward. I look forward to getting to know all of you," He placed emphasis on both tomorrow and all as he spoke, "Have a nice night."

With that Ichika bent over and grabbed his tray. Not looking at anyone, he calmly walked over to the disposal, every eye in the room on him. He politely greeted the server as he placed his tray on the counter. The slight clink of the dishes was the only sound in the room.

Turning with exaggerated patience, Ichika walked towards the door with an almost nonchalant pace and attitude. This was a sharp contrast to the unnatural stillness of the rest of the room, only the eyes of the girls followed Ichika. Opening the shoji door calmly, Ichika took one step through, turned and politely bowed again before gently shutting the door.

The spell Ichika had cast by his actions lasted two heartbeats after the door closed. Two beats of absolute silence before an avalanche of voices exploded across the room.

"I've never seen Orimura so angry."

"Do you think he was serious?"

"That was so cool!"

"I'm gonna be the first one to talk to him tomorrow!"

"No me!"

"Aww…"

"Silence!" a sharp voice cut through the hubbub instantaneously, as Chifuyu Orimura stood in the opposite doorway, her face clouded and voice intimidating, "The next person who speaks will swim around the island ten times before running around the resort fifty more!"

Nodding when a deafening silence followed her pronouncement, she glanced down to the end of the room, "Shinonono, Alcott, Bodewig, Dunois and Huang," she said, her voice impassionate, "Leave your trays and come with me."

All five girls stood and trailed towards the door together under Chifuyu's sharp gaze. Once they were through, Chifuyu shut the door and started walking, obviously expecting the girls to follow her. Leading them through the resort, Chifuyu eventually brought them in front of a western style door with "Staff Room" upon it. Chifuyu opened the door and they all filed in, with the older woman going last, closing the door with a decisive click.

Ignoring the girls anxiousness, Chifuyu walked over to the rooms fridge and opened it, reaching inside and taking out a beer. Looking the girls over, Chifuyu asked, "Anyone want a drink?" She was greeted by a flurry of negative shakes. Shrugging her shoulders, she closed the fridge door, took three steps and sat on the bed. Cracking the beer, she took a swig before looking at the nervous girls and saying, "Sit."

Watching them all drop into seiza position; Chifuyu took another swig of beer and sighed, enjoying the taste. Setting the beer down, she looked over the kneeling girls before saying, "Well, it looks like you girls finally blew it."

Silence and a few small wiggles greeted her pronouncement as the girls all found a spot on the floor to stare at. Chifuyu let them sweat for a few seconds before continuing.

"Did you think he was just going to lie down and take it forever?" she asked, her tone slipping into her lecturing voice easily, "Or did you think that beating somebody over the head with a club and dragging them home was still a valid dating method?"

"But…I mean," said Rin.

"What were we supposed to do?" asked Charl, her voice despondent.

"Would you like the list in alphabetical order or by precedence?" said Chifuyu, her voice going dry.

All of the girls squirmed with that statement, their faces turning even more melancholy. Sighing, Chifuyu took a big swig of beer before continuing.

"Look," she said in a frank tone, "I'm going to break it down real simply for you."

"But first off," she said, her tone sliding back into a lecturing tone, "Just to make sure, have any one of you actually told Ichika that you like him?"

"I did instructor," said Laura, raising her head slightly.

"Laura," said Chifuyu, rubbing her forehead, her tone full of long suffering patience, "You did not tell him you liked him. You flew into the room, through an expensive wall, saved him from being killed by Huang," a squirm from Rin, "then you grabbed him, stuck your tongue down his throat and declared him to be your wife. Out of all of that the only thing you did right was saving his life. I'm pretty sure he thinks it was and still is a bad joke. Anyone else?"

Charl raised her hand timidly.

"Was it in the bath?" asked Chifuyu.

Charl nodded minutely.

"What did you actually say to him?" asked Chifuyu.

"I…I told him that I wanted to stay at the Academy because he was here," answered Charl.

"That's better than Laura," said Chifuyu, "But if I remember correctly, you joined in the hunt to kill Ichika after she kissed him the next morning."

Charl blushed and lowered her head at the statement.

Turning her head to the other three, Chifuyu asked, "Anyone else?" All three girls shook their heads negatively, embarrassed.

"All right," said Chifuyu, "Based on your answers I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?"

"Some good news would be nice," said Cecilia, her normally haughty voice rather quiet.

"The good news," said Chifuyu "is that I'm almost positive Ichika knows you all like him."

All five girls shot up, varying shades of bright red appearing on their faces.

"W-what's the bad news?" asked Houki, speaking for the first time.

"That Ichika knows all five of you like him," said Chifuyu.

All five of the girls goggled at her, their current states not allowing them to understand her meaning.

"H-how can that be the good news and the bad news?!" asked Cecilia, confusion clearly evident in her voice.

"And here I thought all of you were supposed to be shining examples of your countries," said Chifuyu, shaking her head. Looking them all in the eye she said, "It's really simple, I want all of you to imagine that you have five equally important friends. Now, you can pick one of them to be your best friend, but then all of the others will hate you or at least strongly dislike you for some time. Who do you pick to be your best friend?"

There was a brief silence before Charl slowly spoke up. "You don't," she said, understanding in her voice, "You stay friends with all five of them so you don't hurt anyone."

"Exactly," said Chifuyu, "Which is exactly the situation you nincompoops have put Ichika in."

Silence followed Chifuyu's pronouncement, all of the girls faces showing that thinking about what she had said.

"So," asked Rin, her voice heavy, "what do we do?"

"Yes, Instructor," said Laura, "What do we do?"

Chifuyu cocked her eyebrow at the two of them before simply saying, "What?"

"Yes Miss Orimura," said Cecilia, her voice holding some measure of hope, "Please tell us what to do! Surely you know what we should do since he's your brother."

"We would be in your debt," said Charl.

Houki didn't say anything, but the look on her face was one that said she desperately wanted Chifuyu's help.

"No."

"What?" said Cecilia, her tone and face again showing confusion.

"I said no," said Chifuyu, her voice going slightly cold.

"But…but why not?" asked Rin, her face a mix of confusion and despair.

"Why should I?" said Chifuyu, her tone going colder, "Give me one good reason why I should help any of you?"

"You're…you're…the instructor," said Laura, her face showing that she was having some kind of breakdown at the mere thought of Chifuyu not helping.

"Not in this," said Chifuyu, her tone not softening, "In this I'm his family, his sister, who does not approve of how any of you have been acting around him."

"You…don't approve of us?" asked Houki, her face showing shame.

Chifuyu gave Houki a thoughtful look before continuing in a slightly softer tone. "No, Shinonono, no I don't. At least not the way you've been dealing with Ichika."

"B-but why?" asked Cecilia, "Why don't you approve?"

Looking at the upset girl and then at the others Chifuyu felt pity, but only a little. Before she and Ichika had talked, this situation would have been different; she wouldn't have been so incensed by it. But now she saw the situation with new eyes. These girls had been harassing Ichika for months, causing trouble and trying to take Ichika for themselves. They had been trying to take away the only stable, loving thing in her life away from her. She would no longer let that happen.

"Because," said Chifuyu, "He's mine and none of you have proven you deserve him."

It took about three seconds for her declaration to percolate through the girls minds. Then looks of complete and total shock slowly came over all of their faces. Chifuyu looked all of them back, her face not giving away anything. It was Rin who broke the silence.

"What!?" she said, "He belongs to you!?"

"Yes," said Chifuyu, her voice firm.

"W-w-what do you mean by that?" asked Charlotte, her face red.

"I mean exactly that," said Chifuyu, "he's my brother so he belongs to me until someone better comes around. Name one thing any of you can do for him better than me."

There was a pause as the girls tried to think of something they could say. Chifuyu could actually think of a couple herself; cooking and cleaning came to mind for a couple of them, but in their highly agitated state the girls were not at full mental capacity and therefore couldn't come up with any.

Chifuyu gave them about ten seconds before speaking again, long enough to let them think they weren't being rushed but short enough not to give them time to think.

"That's what I thought," said Chifuyu, her tone remaining strong, "And as long as it remains that way I will not approve of any relationship between anyone and my brother. Is that understood?"

Still reeling from Chifuyu's verbal scolding, her critique of their actions and the revelations she had given them, the five girls could merely nod as Chifuyu steamrolled them.

"Good," she said, before continuing in a slightly more forgiving tone, "This doesn't mean you can't be his friend, that's up to him, but no relationships."

Chifuyu paused to let all the girls nod again before taking a final swig of her beer. "Since we all understand each other now, I think it's time for you ladies to go to bed," she said, standing and walking towards the door.

The girls got up and followed her, seemingly in a daze. Opening the door, Chifuyu noticed something flick into an alcove. Not saying anything, she let the girls file out and head down the hall. After they disappeared, around the corner she said, "Are you going to come out now Ichika?"

Ichika came out of the alcove he had ducked into, a small grin on his face. "I never could hide from you Chifuyu," he said, "Not that I was trying too."

"Oh you weren't?" she said, "Then why did you hide in that alcove?"

"I was hiding from the girls," he said, the grin leaving his face, "I…I didn't think it would be good for me to see them right now."

"That's probably a good idea," said Chifuyu, leaning up against the doorframe, "I heard what you said to them in the dining room. You were pretty harsh on them."

"Yeah, I was," said Ichika, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "I guess I let out all my frustrations on them in one go." He paused there before he continued, "But, they were being so annoying, asking if I was spending time with girls other than them, like I was their possession or something." He looked up at her, "Besides, I was with you and there's no one I'd rather spend more time with."

Chifuyu felt herself warm up at Ichika's words. She wasn't sure why, but ever since their little escapade in the shopping mall, she had been sensitive to Ichika's comments. Now, after their mutual confessions in the ocean, it was even worse. But she didn't want Ichika to know that, not now. So she deflected with humor.

"Really?" she said, her tone wry, "There's nobody else in the entire world that you'd want to spend more time with than me? Not even one of those pop idol's all the girls go on about?"

Ichika snorted, "Chifuyu, when have I ever been interested in pop idols? Besides," he said, his silly grin coming back "when you were talking to the girls, it didn't sound like you wanted anyone spending too much time with me either Nee-san."

Chifuyu flushed at his words, both from embarrassment and from the endearment. Not used to being on the defensive, she tried to regain control by scolding Ichika. "Baka," she said, anger tinged with embarrassment, "I told you not to call me that outside the room."

"But Nee-san," said Ichika with a grin, "You're cute when you're embarrassed."

Chifuyu simply stopped when Ichika said that. She didn't make a fish mouth or sputter incoherently. She simply stayed with her mouth partially open in rebuke and turned red. She wasn't cute, she wasn't, thought Chifuyu, strong yes, smart yes, beautiful maybe but never cute. Then why did it embarrass her so much to hear Ichika call her cute?

Ichika simply laughed at her when she started turning red. "I can't believe you're turning so red at being called cute Chifuyu-nee," he said with mirth in his voice, "It's like it's the first time or something."

Chifuyu muttered something under her breath, light enough Ichika couldn't hear. "What did you say?" he asked Chifuyu.

"I said it is the first time you baka!" came Chifuyu's short, sharp reply. Immediately looking like she regretted her outburst she lowered her head and said, "You shouldn't say things like that if you don't mean it..."

Ichika just stared at her. He couldn't believe that nobody had ever called Chifuyu cute before. But her face was just so red and embarrassed that it had to be true. She looked just like one of the girls when he managed to say something they liked, open and...vulnerable. As much as he'd never thought that word would describe Chifuyu, it was the only one that fit.

Realizing that he needed to say something he said, "I'm sorry Chifuyu I didn't realize. But believe me when I say that I meant it."

Chifuyu flushed at his words, but she nodded in acknowledgement. Inside, she was at the same time celebrating and chastising herself. She shouldn't be acting like one of her students because her brother called her cute! But the feeling it left was something she'd never felt before... Shaking her head she managed to choke out, "A-anyway you should come inside."

Nodding his head Ichika said, "Yes Nee-san," and headed into the room. But as he walked next to Chifuyu she suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him dead in his tracks. So quiet he could barely hear it, Chifuyu said, "Thank you." Not sure he could respond, Ichika simply took his other hand and squeezed the one that Chifuyu had on his arm. With that she let go and they both headed inside, Chifuyu letting the door close and then locking it, sealing them into their own little world.

When Chifuyu turned around and made it into the main part of the room, she found Ichika on his knees, spreading out a towel. Pausing, she simply looked at Ichika before saying, "What are you doing?"

Ichika finished spreading the towel before looking up and saying, "I'm getting ready to give you a massage Nee-san, what does it look like?"

"Oh," said Chifuyu, her mind finally focusing again, "I guess I'd forgotten about that because of the excitement at dinner."

"Well I didn't," said Ichika, before patting the towel, "So come lay down, I know you need to relax after everything."

Chifuyu grinned, a true open smile that's brightness made Ichika blink. "You're probably the only one in the world who can tell how tense I am, aren't you Ichika," said Chifuyu.

"Probably," said Ichika, a small grin on his face, "But that's because I'm the only one who you've let spend enough time with you to tell. Now stop stalling and get over here."

"Alright," said Chifuyu, the grin smaller now but still visible on her face. Moving over towards Ichika and the towel, Chifuyu slowly knelt down and lay there, putting her head on her hands. Even though they had done this before, Chifuyu found herself tensing up, anxious because Ichika was about to touch her again. Their moment in the water hadn't just been emotional, the physical part, the holding of each other, had felt good as well.

Gently Ichika put his hands on her through the kimono she was wearing. His hands started at her shoulders and then slid down her back, not massaging, just tracing out the tension in her body. His hands continued down, feeling her hips and then the legs. Despite herself, Chifuyu felt her nerves reacting, anxious at Ichika's touch. After he did both legs Ichika sat up, taking his hands off of her.

"You're really tense Nee-san," he said, looking at her curiously, "Is something wrong?"

"Only the fact that I'm starting to think of you as something other than my brother," she said in her head. But outside she just said, "It's nothing, it must be built up from work."

"Ah," said Ichika, giving her a smile, "I guess it must be." Reaching back out, Ichika felt around her upper back a little more, sending tingles down her spine as his hands gently felt and massaged.

"You know Chifuyu," said Ichika as his hands softly moved around her spine, sliding cloth against her skin, "This would work better if you weren't wearing this kimono."

At the same time her heart rate went up and adrenaline flooded her system, Chifuyu's mind immediately went into a sort of mental battle-royale, various parts of her brain creating or trying to fight off images and ideas of what exactly Ichika meant. The idea that he wanted to see her naked fought with the fact that he was her brother, at the same time her desire to feel his hands on her dueled with her propriety. Him wanting to see her naked was defeated by him being her brother, only to be swiftly replaced by the thought that _she_ wanted him to see her naked. Her propriety was swiftly being overwhelmed by desire's relentless assault and the fact that he was her brother was...

"Chifuyu?" asked Ichika, shaking her gently, "Did you hear me?"

"Uhm, no," she said, her train of thought suddenly stopping as she realized she had missed something he'd said.

"I said that if you wanted to get out of the kimono, you could put on your swimsuit instead. Or I could just keep going," Ichika looked at her as he said this. "Are you sure you're ok Nee-san?" he asked, "You seem out of it."

"No, I'm fine," she said, beating herself up internally as she let her adrenaline recede, "But uh, I think I will change," she said, gently swaying as she stood, "Just give me a minute, I'll change in the bathroom."

"Ok, Chifuyu," said Ichika, giving her a gentle smile, "take your time."

Chifuyu walked over to the bathroom and shut the door behind her, leaning back against it, thoughts racing through her mind.

What was she doing? Ichika was her brother; he should not be making her feel this way. There was no reason to think he thought of her like that and…

Moving slowly, Chifuyu undressed, letting the pieces simply whisper down her skin by themselves and puddle onto the floor. Stepping forward slowly towards the rack where she had hung her bikini to dry, her bare feet padding lightly against the cool floor, she contemplated what to do.

She was definitely...falling for Ichika. That was the only way she could think to put it. Despite the fact that he was her brother, Ichika had gotten…no, she had let him inside her final guard and now she couldn't get him out.

Grabbing the pieces of her swimsuit she continued thinking. Despite her many life experiences, she didn't know what to do, how to pursue a man even if she wanted too. She hadn't been kidding when she had said Ichika was the only man in her life or that she hadn't been called cute before.

Slowly stepping into her bottoms and sliding them up, she thought of all the times she had been hit on in bars or restaurants. All the annoying slobs at the formal IS dinners she had been forced to attend. Even the looks she got in Germany simply because she was a woman on an army base. They all saw her as a thing, an object to be acquired or won. Even women were like that, all the fan girls in her classes and even grown women on the street. She was an idol, a symbol to them, not a person. Even her few friends, like Miss Yamada, still had something in their attitudes, just a small bit that held back from her, saw her as some kind of superwoman.

And then there was Ichika. He was the only one who saw her, Chifuyu Orimura. Not Chifuyu Orimura the great IS pilot, not the winner of the Mondo Gross, not even as an accomplished IS trainer. No, he saw her only as Chifuyu Orimura, his beloved onee-san. The simple thought of that made her smile.

Reaching behind her to tie the back of her bikini together, Chifuyu paused. That was it, that thought just then. Ichika saw her as his beloved onee-san. There it was, plain as day. She didn't want Ichika to see her as his sister, or rather, at least not as the first thing. She wanted Ichika to see just her, Chifuyu Orimura the woman.

Finishing her knot she pondered that thought. How exactly was she supposed to do that? How did she make her brother act, not like her brother? Sighing, she shook her hair and opened the door. Hopefully something would come to her.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

As Chifuyu went into the bathroom Ichika sat back against the bed. A thoughtful look creased his face as he looked at where she had disappeared. There was something…off about Chifuyu and how she was acting. He wasn't sure exactly what or when it had started, but she had been doing things differently when it came to interacting with him and it almost had him worried.

But then again, he was enjoying his interactions with her even more now. God knew he had enjoyed playing volleyball with her, especially with the bikini he'd picked out. He shook his head at that. She was his sister for crying out loud, he wasn't supposed to think of her like that! But that didn't change the fact that Chifuyu was the most beautiful woman he knew. It just meant that he couldn't act on his…feelings involving her looks.

He sighed and put his head in his hands. He was rapidly coming to the conclusion that girls were entirely too much trouble to be worth it. Hell, the only girl he could reliably interact with was Chifuyu and that was because….

Ichika's thoughts trailed off as the bathroom door opened and Chifuyu stepped out. She was in her bikini and he couldn't help but stare as she walked towards him.

For her part, Chifuyu started to turn red as Ichika stared at her. It had been different on the beach, there were others around and she hadn't had the mutual declarations between her and Ichika. But here, alone with him, it was different. Even if he didn't, she knew that he held her heart in his hands and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

"Don't stare like that you baka," she said, halfheartedly attempting to cover herself with her hand and arms, "it's embarrassing."

Ichika had the decency to look embarrassed and moved his eyes to Chifuyu's. "Sorry," he said, "You just look so nice I can't help it."

"Baka," said Chifuyu, as she laid down, "just shut up and give me my massage."

"Yes Nee-san," Ichika said; a smile on his face.

Moving next to her as she settled down, Ichika again put his hands on his sister, feeling for tight spots. But this time was different than all the others, this time his hands moved across her smooth skin, felt her warmth directly, allowing him to be even more precise with his hands.

For Chifuyu the contact was electric. As Ichika traced his fingers down her back and sides, they left trails of goose bumps and sent tingles pleasure up her nerves like she'd never felt before. And that was just the preliminaries.

As Ichika's skilled hands finally began to work in earnest, Chifuyu felt her stress flowing out just as fast as the warmth from Ichika's hands was flowing into her. Every knot was attacked by skillful fingers that moved just right, used only the pressure necessary to remove their target and moved on. He quickly made work of her arms and shoulders, working out knots she didn't even know she had. After her shoulders he went down her back, working out each spot perfectly, sending tingles up her spine the entire time.

As Ichika's hands went lower, Chifuyu realized that it wasn't only his hands that were warming her. There was warmth spreading from inside her as well. As his hands went closer to her hips, she felt her breathing start to become irregular.

Ichika was concentrating on making Chifuyu feel good, so much so that his eyes were closed so he could heighten his sense of touch, allowing him to better use his hands. This meant that he didn't notice her face start to flush as his hands touched her hips.

As his hands continued their soft, yet insistent progress down her body Chifuyu felt herself wanting to wriggle in pleasure. Fighting down the urge she instead held herself still and tried to control her breathing. It worked until Ichika's hands moved past her hips and onto her butt.

Ichika's hands froze when he realized where they had gone. He had lost himself in the feeling of Chifuyu's skin, her smell and just let his hands keep moving. Now they were in a dangerous place, somewhere that could get him in a lot of trouble and the bad part was he really wasn't sure he wanted to move them.

Gulping Ichika forced himself to move his hands off the supple firmness that was Chifuyu's butt. But he hadn't moved more than a few millimeters off when she spoke.

"Stop," she said, her voice slightly breathy, "Just…just keep going, it's alright."

Ichika didn't trust his voice at the moment, so he just moved his hand back to where he had removed it from, the soft, resilient feeling returning to his hand. Forcing himself to try and remain clinical he started moving his hands again, hoping his willpower could last.

Chifuyu nearly moaned as Ichika started to massage her butt again. Whatever was causing her to feel his hands so clearly felt doubled right now. The warmth inside her was building higher, hotter as Ichika's hands continued their tender ministrations. She thought it would get better after he moved to her legs.

She was right, but not how she thought it would go. As Ichika finally moved down to her legs she realized how close his hands were to the source of the warmth inside her, and how tight her legs were. Ichika did exactly what he always did; he went down one leg and back up the other. Normally it was just his pattern, but this time it was exactly what Chifuyu did or didn't need, she couldn't make up her mind on which it was.

As Ichika's hands made their way up the last few inches of her thigh, Chifuyu felt herself tense up along her whole body and then relax as a massive spike of pleasure shot through her body. She couldn't help but quiver in the aftermath and she fought very hard to keep the moan that wanted to come out of her throat to more of a simple "hmm" of pleasure.

Ichika had opened his eyes when he finished, which let him catch the shiver run through Chifuyu's body. Hearing her moan a little he asked, "Are you ok Chifuyu? Did I do something wrong?"

Chifuyu really didn't want to do anything besides bask in the afterglow of what had just happened, but she realized she needed to say something. "N-no, Ichika, I'm fine. That last bit just felt really good is all."

"Ok," he said, his tone not convinced she was telling the truth, "Well, I'm done now and you're kinda sweaty, do you want me to run a bath for you?"

"That would be lovely, thank you Ichika," said Chifuyu, the glow fading away, making her realize she did indeed had a slight sheen of sweat covering her body, as well as…certain other things in places Ichika didn't need to know about.

Ichika went to the bathroom as Chifuyu laid there and breathed. That was not supposed to happen. Her little brother was NOT supposed to make her do what she had just done. Hell, she didn't do that to herself. But it had happened. And now she had to deal with it and how it would probably affect her in the future.

Sitting up against the bed slowly, she sighed, suddenly feeling rather empty. She wanted something; she just wasn't quite sure what it was. She relaxed for several minutes and let her body calm itself waiting on Ichika to fill up the tub. Eventually he came, shaking his hand slightly.

"Your bath's ready Nee-san," he said, a small smile on his face, "Nice and hot just like you like it."

Giving Ichika a small smile, Chifuyu stood and headed towards the bathroom. "Thank you Ichika," she said, "I'll try not to take too long."

He gave her a wry grin, "That's what you always say and you always stay till the water isn't warm anymore."

"It's my hair," she said, "It takes too long for me to wash it and enjoy a soak."

"Then why don't you let me do it? Like we used to," said Ichika.

Chifuyu paused at that, it had been years since she and Ichika had taken a bath together, since he was around eight in fact. It was around the time that she had started leaving him alone by himself for long periods of time. Before that, when she had spent much more time with him, they had often bathed together. She would scrub his back and he hers, while also helping with her hair. It had taken a bit to get him to treat it gently, but with his help she finished in about 2/3rds of the time it would have taken her by herself. Afterwards they would just sit together in the bath, enjoying each other's company until it was time to get out.

But then he had been kidnapped and everything changed. She had to serve in Germany, pay bills and work at the IS Academy. What had once been a fun, loving thing had fallen by the wayside as time marched on. But here it was being brought back, offered a second chance.

A little over a week ago, if he had suggested it she wouldn't have given a second thought to dismissing the idea as preposterous, grown siblings didn't do that sort of thing. Only a few days ago she probably would have been at least mildly resistant to the idea, even if she accepted in the end. A few hours ago it would have been yes, but not enthusiastically, not with such heart.

But now she recognized what she needed, what her body was demanding from her. She wanted that physical intimacy with someone, both because of what had just happened with the massage and the fact that long dormant emotions were again coming to the fore, demanding the touch of a loved one. The fact that the term "Loved One" had taken on a new, double meaning, with Ichika didn't matter. The simple truth of the matter was that she wanted to be near him and he had offered her the perfect chance to do so.

"I'd like that," she said in a tone tinged with happiness, a small smile appearing on her face as she remembered the past and looked forward to the future.

Ichika felt his face light up as Chifuyu spoke, the smile on her face making it appear even more beautiful than it normally did. Managing not to choke on his own words he smiled back. "Alright," he said, "You get in and I'll be there in a minute."

Chifuyu nodded and headed towards the bathroom. Stepping insides she closed the door, noticing the small amount of steam coming off the bath as she did so. Stepping forward she ran her hand through the water; it was just as she liked it. Shaking her head she prepared to get in when an idea crossed her mind. She knew that it was wrong, she shouldn't even be _thinking_ like that, but it was also perfect for what she wanted. Smiling slightly her hands reached up and behind her…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Ichika again watched Chifuyu head into the bathroom, his mind momentarily distracted by the sway of her hips. After she shut the door he shook his head, "No Ichika," he thought to himself, "No, bad thoughts, bad thoughts, she's _your sister_ for crying out loud!" At least that was what he tried to convince himself with, but the truth was there were few men on the planet who wouldn't find Chifuyu's form pleasing and Ichika was _definitely_ not among them.

Sighing he headed over towards the pile in the corner where he had placed his beach things. Quickly changing out of his Yukata and getting his suit on, he remembered the box that Tabane had given him. Reaching down he opened it and looked at the necklace inside. Staring at its striking, yet simple beauty he decided that he would wait until after the bath to give it to her. Closing the box he placed it on the nightstand next to the bed and headed towards the bathroom. Opening the door the first thing he saw was Chifuyu, sunk down into the tub so only her head was above the water. The second thing he saw however…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Chifuyu opened her eyes and turned her head as she heard Ichika open the door and then pause. As her head turned she took in Ichika, stock still and staring at the ground. "Is something wrong?" she asked in a calm voice.

She watched, amused, as Ichika's mouth moved slightly, trying and failing to form words. "Ichika?" she asked again, this time with a hint of humor in her voice.

This time Ichika managed to look up at Chifuyu before looking back down to the ground. Finally managing to form words he stuttered out, "Chifuyu…you…but…"

"But what?" she asked, looking at the small pile of cloth that was her bikini piled on the floor, "Surely you didn't expect me to wear my suit while I took a bath?"

The look on his face said that he _had_ thought she was going to wear her suit in the bath but his mouth couldn't form those words and he simply looked at her with a stunned appearance on his face. Having entirely too much fun teasing Ichika, Chifuyu decided to push it a little farther. Moving her hands to the sides of the tub she pushed herself up and turned towards Ichika.

The world seemed to slow for Ichika as Chifuyu rose out of the tub. Each drop of water sliding down her smooth skin appeared to be moving imperceptibly at the same time her muscles seemed to flex with near infinite slowness as she pushed herself up. His eyes followed one particular drop as it rolled down, first curving gently down her neck, and then sliding slowly across her shoulders before turning back inward. Ichika felt himself holding his breath as the drop headed down, across her upper chest until it reached the swell of her breasts. It continued, rolling down across the firm smooth skin, still going headed towards that impossibly deep cleavage and then...

It took him a second to comprehend the fact that there was a towel over Chifuyu's chest before Ichika's brain went into maximum overdrive before then moving to emergency shutdown as it tried and then utterly failed to ponder this new, interesting development. This was also in conjunction with attempting process his emotions over the fact that there was something where he thought there had been nothing just a few seconds ago and the fact that he had _wanted_ there to be nothing covering his sister's chest.

On Chifuyu's part, it was entirely worth her effort to see Ichika's face as it tried to process all the emotions and then decide to simply go into shutdown, giving him a look like a repeatedly poleaxed ox. As his eyes started blinking repeatedly, Chifuyu decided to give the poor boy a break. Waving her hand she tried to focus his attention back to her.

"Ichika," she said in her normal voice, "Ichika~." When that failed to work, she used her instructor voice, "Ichika!" she called. That got his attention.

As Chifuyu called him back to awareness, Ichika focused on her face, which contained a slightly…smug look, as if she had proved something to herself. "Uhm, yes?" he said as he shook himself.

"You ok there Ichika?" Chifuyu asked, the small smile still on her face.

"Yeah," he replied unconvincingly, "I'm fine."

"Mhmm," murmured Chifuyu, before leaning back against the tub, "Then get over here and help me with my hair."

"Yes Nee-san," said Ichika as he moved to sit behind Chifuyu, finally managing to focus himself on something familiar, if half forgotten.

In the manner of two once familiar dance partners reuniting after a long absence, Chifuyu and Ichika began to work together. Two combs were produced, Chifuyu taking the left side and Ichika the right as they brushed out the tangles in her long hair. For Chifuyu, Ichika's soft hands brought the closeness she wanted as the gently pulled through her hair and massaged her scalp, while Ichika became partially enraptured in Chifuyu's smell and the softness of her hair.

As they worked together, their moves became less hesitant; more sure of the other as the last of the tangles were worked out. Chifuyu used the small wash bucket to soak her hair, as Ichika ran his fingers through, allowing it to soak in easier. As Chifuyu finished soaking her locks, Ichika was already ready with the soap, his hands gently caressing her hair and scalp. As this progressed, both siblings were pulled deeper into the moment, the intimate nature of the task pulling them closer together in more ways than one.

Ichika finished soaping Chifuyu's hair and she was ready with the rinse, Ichika again helping guide the water to where it was needed most. As the wash finished, the hair was pulled back by both and the combing repeated. By now they were working as if they had never stopped this act, had been doing it continuously for years.

As they finished, Ichika pulled his sisters hair back, laying it gently down her back. During the entire time they had been cleaning her hair they had not spoken, neither of them wanting to break the natural silence and intimacy that had accompanied their work. But now, as the last of the long dark locks were laid down, the task was finished, the focus not as intense.

Turning back to look at Ichika, Chifuyu gestured him towards the tub. "Your turn," she said softly, the words melding into the atmosphere as she spoke them.

Ichika almost thought about opening his mouth to protest. But there was a light in Chifuyu's eye that called to him and truthfully he wanted to as well. So he just nodded and moved to where he could climb in. As he did so, Ichika could feel Chifuyu's presence around him, her legs touching his as he sat, the feelings of comfort and love seemingly radiating outward from her.

As he finished sitting, he leaned his head back, knowing his part in the dance they were performing. As he did so Chifuyu poured the bucket of water she had prepared onto his hair, soaking his much faster than hers. The hands that had for so long only held instruments of punishment towards him now were gentle, taking as much care with him as he had with their owner. As they finished another bucket was poured, rinsing away the last of the suds.

As the hands pulled away, both felt…sad, disappointed that the moment was ending. But even as Ichika put his hands on the edge to pull away, Chifuyu's fell on his shoulders. There was no pressure on them, no tug or even words spoken. But Ichika could feel what they asked, just as Chifuyu knew he would. Now, just as she had asked, he would have to answer.

Ichika paused, his head unsure of where this would lead. But his heart knew what it wanted and it is a rare person indeed who can fight its pull, even if they want to. Ichika did not want to; he wanted the love he could feel, just as he knew Chifuyu wanted what she could feel from him.

So he did what came naturally. Leaning back just slightly, he took the hand on his left shoulder in his right and kissed it softly, before moving into the embrace that awaited him. Even as his back leaned against her front, Chifuyu's arms slid around his stomach and pulled him close, only a thin wet towel separating them from each other.

Ichika could feel Chifuyu's heart beat as her chest pressed against his back, it was slightly off from his. But as they lay there, soaking in the tub, the difference became less. Slowly they overlapped, each beat coming closer and closer, until they finally, gloriously sounded together for the first time, then again and again, each one just as perfectly in time as the last.

Both of them felt it, both of them were unsure as to how exactly it happened, but they both knew, could feel just from their contact, that the one whose heart beat with theirs loved them, loved them as openly and unconditionally as was possible in this world. And they reveled in it, even as they lay still together, they reveled in the knowledge that no matter what they did, no matter what would come, there was one who loved them more than anything else in this world.

Though it felt longer, it was only a few minutes before the deep spell slipped comfortably away. As it did so, Chifuyu lowered her head and kissed Ichika's cheek, the first open sign of endearment she had initiated. As she pulled away, she whispered, "Thank you," into Ichika's ear, to which he nodded softly.

As Chifuyu's arms pulled away from him, Ichika pushed himself up and out of the tub, stepping slowly onto the ground outside. Stepping over to the towel rack he took one and briefly dried himself before stepping outside, finally separating the two of them.

As Ichika heard the door click shut behind him, his conscious mind seemed to finally reassert itself over his emotions. He wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, but he did know that it had been the most emotionally intense thing that had happened to him in his entire life.

Walking over to his bag, he changed into his sleeping clothes and then, after pulling back the sheets, plopped down on the edge of the bed, emotionally and physically drained from the experience. Glancing at where he had put the necklace, he decided that tonight was not the night to give it to Chifuyu; it would be like adding another drop of water to the ocean. Putting it in his bag he decided to lay down to wait for Chifuyu, she would only be...

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After Ichika closed the door, Chifuyu stared at it for a couple seconds before she lay back against the tub. That had been… She wasn't sure what that had been actually. But she did know that it was beautiful beyond all of her expectations and she wanted more, as much as she could get.

Letting the glow slowly flow out of her, Chifuyu waited in the tub for a few more minutes before she slowly pushed herself out of the tub. Letting the towel drop to the floor she pulled the plug, letting the remnants of the bath drain away. She dried herself slowly, luxuriating in her nakedness, feeling like a new person.

As she finished drying herself she looked down and realized that at some point she had gotten her Yukata wet, leaving her with nothing to wear. After hanging everything up she slowly opened the door to and leaned out.

"Ichika?" she asked, only her head in the room. When she didn't get a response she leaned out just a little more and saw his feet on the bed. Listening she heard the soft steady sound of a sleeping person's breath.

Stepping out carefully Chifuyu saw Ichika had fallen asleep on the bed, probably waiting for her to come out. Smiling softly she walked over and knelt next to him, examining his face. He looked peaceful and she dare said happy as well. Leaning closer she gave him a light kiss on the forehead.

Moving to her things she put on her sleepwear, a black tank-top and some underwear, before moving to the bed. As she climbed in Ichika rolled over, putting himself near the middle, facing her direction. Pausing for just a moment, she again smiled softly as she lay next to Ichika, pulling him against her so she could feel his warmth. As she did his arm pulled her back slightly from where it had flopped against her back. With a happy grin on her face Chifuyu fell asleep, holding her beloved in her arms.

_AN: Well, how did I do? I hope you all enjoyed reading it. I know I did writing it. Please leave a review or Follow and Fave if you think it deserves it._

_Also, my writers brain see's two ways for this to continue. We can make it all light and fluffy or I can write more story based, with fighting and possible romantic entanglements for Ichika, which means issues for Chifuyu to deal with. _

_Let me know what you think. See you next time._


End file.
